Davydenko quits Dubai with wrist injury

DUBAI (AFP) Nikolay Davydenko, the ATP World Tour champion, is a doubt for Russias Davis Cup tie against India in Moscow on March 3-5 after retiring from the Dubai Open with an damaged left wrist. Davydenko considered pulling out before the tournament after sustaining the injury in a fall while practising in Rotterdam the week before last, but struggled through his first round yesterday before losing one set to Michael Berrer, by 6-3, and calling it a day. It was another blow for the popular 2millions dollar tournament from which Rafael Nadal, who has long-term fitness issues, is missing this year, and from which Roger Federer withdrew on Sunday with a chest infection It was no surprise, for Davydenko had been making many uncharacteristic mistakes, especially with the double-handed backhand drive. I thought about quitting before the match, but in practice this morning I was okay, said Davydenko. Playing a match is different, though. I need to return faster, and it starts to get swollen and I have more pain. I was thinking about it: it was too much for me, it gets too risky now, and its better to retire. I enjoy coming to Dubai so I am disappointed at whats happened. And I dont know if I can play in the Davis Cup. Davydenkos discomfort had looked significantly greater than it had while beating Florent Serra of France in three sets in the first round on Tuesday. He frequently over-hit, soon dropped his serve to go 1-3 down, and was unable to break back against Berrer, a powerful left-hander who had a heavy serve and a liking for coming to the net. Near the end Davydenko came to the net himself, found himself obliged to play a high backhand volley, and netted it awkwardly. It became evident then that he was no longer fit enough to make any impression on the match. But Berrer, the world number 56, also pronounced himself disappointed. I thought I could win anyway, he said. At the moment I am self-confident. My way of playing hurts a lot of guys, he said, giving much of the credit for his positive frame to his new coach, Claude Pistolesi. In Germany you are a little bit more self-critical, and doubt yourself more than in other countries. He (Pistolesi) has helped me and given me more aggressive thinking, said Berrer, who beat Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round, and now looks likely to achieve his short-term goal of reaching the top 50. I have other goals too, the 29-year-old from Stuttgart said. But I keep those in my heart. His quarter-final match on Thursday is against Marcos Baghdatis, the former Australian Open finalist from Cyprus, or Somdev Devvarman, the Indian qualifier.